How Blue Jays prospects Dasan Brown, Irv Carter IV honour Jackie Robinson’s legacy
Two Toronto Blue Jays prospects have embraced a lasting message Jackie Robinson once famously shared: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Dasan Brown and Irv Carter IV will be doing their part to honour the legend on Jackie Robinson Day.
Over a decade has passed since Toronto Blue Jays prospect Dasan Brown visited the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum as a 10-year-old, but the trip still holds a special place in his memory.
As a finalist in MLB’s Pitch, Hit & Run competition in 2012, Brown and his fellow challengers earned a trip to the All-Star Game in Kansas City, Mo., to compete in the national finals. While there, they got the opportunity to shag flyballs during the Home Run Derby, soak in the All-Star experience and were taken on a trip to the museum, which honours some of baseball’s most overlooked trailblazers.
“That’s one of the early core memories I have,” the Oakville, Ont., native recalled of his visit in a recent interview. “The talent in that league was beyond what anyone was able to even comprehend at that time. So, it’s cool to understand that. It’s cool to learn that at that age.
“It just drives (my) work ethic to want to have that same impact that those guys have had.”
The impact of those Negro Leagues legends will be on full display Tuesday as baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson Day, commemorating Robinson’s MLB debut when he broke the colour barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.
This year’s tributes will carry an extra level of importance given the recent erasure of a webpage detailing Robinson’s military service by the U.S. Defense Department in March. The page was ultimately restored after much public outcry, but its brief disappearance underscores the significance of MLB’s efforts every April to recognize and remember Robinson’s profound influence on the sport.
It’s a tradition that reaches far beyond the glitz and glamour of the big leagues, where every MLB player and coach will wear No. 42 as they take the field on Tuesday. The festivities may look slightly different in the minors without the ability to pump out specialty uniforms for every player, but the sentiment remains the same for those honouring Robinson’s legacy.
For Irv Carter IV — a right-handed pitcher with Toronto’s high-A affiliate, the Vancouver Canadians — learning of the Defense Department’s actions only reinforced his appreciation for Robinson’s legend.
“Jackie was more than a baseball player. That probably just tells you even more about the person (he was) and is another example of how much he was dealing with on and off the field,” Carter IV said of the deletion. “So I think it shows how much more we should celebrate his career.”
Carter IV, whose great-grandfather played in the Negro Leagues, has admired Robinson from the day he stepped on a baseball field. He credits his grandmother, who gave him a book on Robinson when he was starting out in the game, for helping him understand what the Hall of Famer means to baseball.
From there, the 2021 fifth-round pick went on to eventually wear No. 42 during all four years of high school.
“I think when you wear No. 42, there’s a certain respect you have to have, and there’s a certain way you should play the game,” Carter IV said. “Jackie played the game being very fearless and relentless, so when you wear that number, you just want to be everything that man was.”
Both Brown and Carter IV have embraced a lasting message Robinson once famously shared: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”
Brown and Carter IV have become active members of their communities, striving to set an example for the next generation. The two teamed up as coaches, alongside fellow Blue Jays prospect Je’Von Ward, at Brown’s youth baseball camp in Toronto this past off-season and paid visits to hospitals across the city.
“I believe that even if I impact one person, change one person’s life, that is more than enough…,” Brown said, explaining how he strives to follow the example Robinson set. “You don’t even realize that there are people at the games, watching the games, that are using you as an inspiration. So, I try to understand that while I’m competing, I’m still able to change and impact somebody’s life.”
Carter IV echoed that sentiment, emphasizing the power that representation and visibility have in the community work they do.
“I think everything is bigger than the game, especially when it comes to youth and development and trying to uplift people,” he said. “That little seven- or eight-year-old kid that has the dream of playing baseball, then they see me, and are like, ‘You know what? If he made it, then I think I can make it, too.’”
As they take the field Tuesday, both players said that they would have their own way of celebrating Jackie Robinson Day.
For Brown, with the double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, that might mean lacing up a speciality pair of Robinson-inspired cleats that his mom pushed him to get. For Carter IV, with the Canadians, it might be writing “42” on the back of the mound if he’s called on in relief in the team’s home opener.
“I’ll always be thinking about him when I’m on the field,” Carter IV said. “If I get the opportunity to throw (Tuesday), I’ll be playing for something more than myself.”
